Summary

  • ACMA’s 16 October consultation proposes, but does not adopt, a class-licence and provider-accreditation framework for standard-power RLAN devices in 5925–6585 MHz.
  • Providers would keep operating records, while individual AFC grants would not appear in the public RRL; trial results are preliminary and limited to lightly encumbered areas.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has opened a second-stage consultation on how automatic frequency coordination could authorize standard-power Wi-Fi in the 5925–6585 MHz band. The paper, released on 16 October, invites submissions until 18 December. It is a proposed route into a later rulemaking process, not a licence now in force or a nationwide service. Consultation notice

AFC works as a live permission system. A device reports its location to a provider’s database; the system checks incumbent radio licences and returns channels and power limits for that device. ACMA defines standard power here as up to 4 W EIRP. Current low-power indoor and very-low-power arrangements remain in place; ACMA says standard-power outdoor use has not yet been generally authorised. Consultation paper, pp. 2–4

The model ACMA prefers would amend the existing LIPD class licence, making operation conditional on an accredited AFC provider. It favours accreditation of the provider rather than approval of each software product. A provider could use its own or licensed software so long as its coordination outcomes meet ACMA’s requirements. That choice could reduce device-by-device administration, but it makes the provider’s operating record part of the practical safeguard for fixed links and other incumbents.

The evidence behind the proposal is mixed rather than unanimous. ACMA says 26 responses to its 2025 discussion paper included 18 supporters of coordinated standard-power RLAN, five conditional supporters, two cautious submissions and one opposing submission. It also reports four Australian scientific-licence trials. The agency observed no interference where incumbent use was relatively limited, but noted database-synchronisation and device-registration issues. That is not evidence that the framework has been proven across busy areas. ACMA’s summary of submissions and trials

The proposed division of responsibility is consequential. ACMA would set protection parameters; licensees would remain responsible for the accuracy of their incumbent-licence entries; accredited providers would calculate and retain dynamic operating grants. The paper does not propose publishing each grant in the Register of Radiocommunications Licences (RRL). It says separate AFC providers in the same area would therefore have no AFC-based coordination with one another, while ordinary Wi-Fi protocols would address device-to-device risks.

ACMA plans to analyse this consultation first, consult on detailed technical and regulatory rules in Q3 2027, then finalize class-licence and accreditation arrangements in Q4 2027–Q1 2028. Deployment could begin only at that later stage, subject to responses. The immediate question is whether the final rules make an individual grant reconstructible for an audit or interference dispute without treating the consultation’s proposal as an accomplished system.

The control chain is the story

The proposal places the live access decision in a provider’s system but keeps the public licence register focused on incumbents. That can be workable if provider logs, database versions and complaint handling are auditable and retained for long enough. ACMA has proposed several of those duties; the consultation has not yet specified the complete evidence trail or how disputes involving different providers will be joined.

This is a design question, not evidence of a failure. Four trials with few incumbent services cannot establish how the same process will behave in dense or high-consequence areas, and ACMA reports unresolved implementation issues. The rulemaking still has time to decide what an affected licensee, device operator or auditor can see after a channel or power grant is challenged.

Sources